If you are new to Paganism or magick, or if you are just interested in finding out about Paganism and magick, this page here to help provide basic information on modern Neo-Pagan religions and magick. The information here will give you a basic understanding of Paganism and help direct you to fairly easy to find good books for Pagan beginners and information seekers.
A Few Pagan Religions
When many people think of modern Pagan religions, they think of Wicca. While Wicca is probably the largest Pagan of the modern Pagan religions and certainly gets the most media attention, there are actually many Pagan religions. Listed here are a few of the religions that many consider to fall under the collective term “Pagan”:
- Asatru
- Church of All Worlds
- Discordianism
- Druidry
- Feri
- Gwyddons
- Hellenismos
- Kemetism
- Religio Romana
- Senistrognata
- Thelema
- Wicca
And sometimes individuals and sub-groups of the following religions self-identify as Pagan:
Not only are there other Pagan religions besides those listed here, but many of these religions have sub-divisions (denominations/sects/traditions) within them.
Answers to Basic Questions About Paganism
I have written a short article with the answers to some of the most common questions I get from those new to Pagan religions. If you are new to Pagan religions or are just curious about them, you might want to read my FAQ #1page before going any further.
Critical Reading for Pagans
There are a large number of books and thousands of web sites on various Neo-Pagan religions. Some provide excellent information, some provide good information, but many provide questionable or bad information. It can be hard to tell the good from the bad on a subject you aren’t familiar with — unless you read critically.
Here is a link to an article that explains, from a Neo-Pagan point of view, what a credible book is and ways to determine if a book should be considered credible.
This site also has a lot of books reviews which can help you decide if a given book is worth your reading time and/or your purchase money.
Finding Other Pagans
One question I hear a lot is “How can I find groups near me?” It can be a frustrating search, and some of the best resources aren’t obvious to newcomers. While there are different ways to go about this, here’s my suggested method….
I’m a big fan of knowing what you’re looking for when you start searching for something. The following list of questions is designed to help you figure out different aspects of what you might be looking for or want (and which things you don’t want!)….
Wiccan & Pagan websites